Iraqi National Intelligence Service
| جهاز المخابرات الوطني العراقي | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | April 2004 |
| Preceding agency | |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Iraq |
| Employees | 1,000 |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Independent |
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) is an intelligence agency of the Iraqi government that was created in April 2004 on the authority of the Coalition Provisional Authority.
After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority Paul Bremer disbanded Iraq's military and security services. As the security situation within Iraq deteriorated and Iraqi resistance to the occupation became stronger and more violent, the need for a secret service became more pressing. In December 2003, The Washington Post reported that Iyad Allawi and Nouri Badran, members of both the Iraq Interim Governing Council and the Iraqi National Accord political party, flew to the US to discuss details of setting up a new secret service with the help of the CIA. The agency was to be headed by Badran and recruit many agents of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Intelligence Service. The main objective of the new organisation was to counter the insurgency. The hiring process was aided by CIA polygraph
In January 2004, The New York Times reported that the creation of the new agency was under way. It was to employ between 500 and 2,000 staff and be financed by the U.S. government. Ibrahim al-Janabi was said to be the main candidate for leading the spy agency. These efforts drew criticism from Ahmed Chalabi, another formerly exiled Iraqi politician who had good connections with the CIA, who voiced worries that the new agency might be used for the restoration of the old Ba'athist security apparatus and follow the well-established pattern of government repression.
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